There’s no single word that can depict what took place this season for the Celtics.
If you were to try, go ahead and take your pick between words like frustrating, unfulfilling, erratic, uninspiring, heinous, and others that fit a similar bill.
It goes all the way back to Sept. 28 — the start of the preseason. Boston took a 104-97 loss in a road game against Charlotte. They wound up going 1-3 in their preseason matchups, and instantly there was a small amount of fear born in Boston fans.
But who cares? It’s only preseason.
The Celtics kicked off the regular season by dominating the Philadelphia 76ers 105-87 — not exactly a shocker. Philadelphia had just been eliminated in five games during the Eastern Conference Semifinals the year before by Boston. Keep in mind, they also had not yet acquired Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris to round out what’s now a deadly starting five.
Following that, was some of the most inconsistent, unstable basketball in recent history. They couldn’t string together any meaningful games, but everyone waited expectantly for a turnaround. Even still, time marched on and the Celtics’ pathetic basketball stayed put. It lagged behind, refusing to find a permanent fix.
The excuses started.
“It’s early.”
“Hayward is still recovering from a horrible injury. Of course, he doesn’t look like himself yet.”
“The young guys are adjusting to having their roles reduced after carrying the team to one game away from the Finals last year.”
And, while some of them were legitimate, others proved that the issues this team saw would go much deeper than working on chemistry and figuring out early growing pains.
There was always plenty of blame to go around. Color everyone surprised when one of the many players not delivering in those starting months was Kyrie Irving. Maybe it was the afro he tried to rock causing the issues, but the six-time All-Star eventually shaved it off and got back to dominating.
Kyrie reminisces on the good times with his Afro (Presented by https://t.co/Av8GdCAzPA) pic.twitter.com/OnCHfaMMy0
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 31, 2018
Some players that got criticism early on — Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward especially — never did fully come around.
Hayward at least had some resurgence near the end of the regular season, which had all of Boston amped up for what should have been a deep run in the playoffs. Besides a couple of 30-point bombs over the season, Hayward’s best performance took place April 5.
Gordon Hayward scored 21 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting, marking the first Celtics player to score 20+ points on 100% shooting since Kevin McHale (25 pts) on March 2, 1986
— Celtics Stats (@celtics_stats) April 6, 2019
Even though he was still clearly lacking explosiveness, it seemed like Hayward integrated himself to be a steady, useful part of the offense just in time. Hopes were raised even higher after a 20-point outing in the fourth and final game against the Pacers in the first round.
Oh look Gordon Hayward is back pic.twitter.com/8VUDv4vUnz
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) April 21, 2019
That 20 point night would stand alone.
Sorry, Dan. He still isn’t back, not yet.
Like every other positive stretch over this season, individual or otherwise, it was nothing more than fools gold.
Jaylen Brown was another one of those players under the fans’ metaphorical microscope, but he turned it around and left doubters with no choice but to eat crow.
His improvement came after being moved to the bench, where Brown was able to flourish. Let off the hook from the fans perspective, Brown later found himself centered in the narrative of Irving versus the others.
During a rough stretch in January, Irving called out the younger players on Boston, criticizing their mindset and work ethic. It sparked what seemed like a petty civil war, adding another tally to the problems this team was riddled with.
“The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day,” Irving said. “And they think it’s hard to know, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?”
A few days later, Jaylen Brown fired back at the sole player on Boston’s roster to ever win a championship. He said it was important to not point fingers, and how they should be empowering each other.
“We’ve got to be more accountable as a group. It’s not one guy’s fault. It’s not young guys, old guys’ fault. It’s everybody,” Brown said. “We all have to be accountable to turn this thing around.”
The trade deadline came and went, with Danny Ainge refusing to budge on his masterpiece. It was much to Marcus Morris’ delight, who a couple of weeks prior to the deadline had as much confidence as ever in this year’s squad.
On "Celtics Postgame Live," Marcus Morris says he thinks the Celtics have a "special squad" and wants Danny Ainge to keep it intact entering the NBA trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/nvCyjXSF4U
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 31, 2019
Morris’ belief in the original title aspirations never wavered. Not even with the Celtics hanging by their fingertips, while Giannis and the Bucks smirked down on them, boasting a 3-1 lead.
He always thought they were the better team, right up until they were eliminated in five humiliating games.
The ups and downs drove fans irate. They booed off the home team many times, including the very last game at TD Garden.
Late December into early January was one of the only stretches where Boston displayed promise for the future. That was followed by atrocious performances shortly after, and once again it felt like the team was back at square one.
They went 1-5 as February transitioned to March, and had a 13-13 combined record during those two months.
But somehow, throughout that entire calamity, there was still a ray of hope.
Because who cares? It’s just the regular season.
Even Irving noted that it was the playoffs which truly held his attention. The playoffs are when Boston would finally kick it into gear. When they would utilize their embarrassment of riches to impose their will on the Eastern Conference.
Kyrie Irving doubles down …
"I can’t wait for all this other BS about the regular season, keep getting better, talking over and over and over again about what we can do to keep getting better playing in the regular season. I just want to be at the highest level playing."
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) February 28, 2019
And yet, to nobody’s true surprise, it was not meant to be.
Nothing could have prepared us for this series other than the entire season
— Ryan Bernardoni (@dangercart) May 7, 2019
The blame can’t rest on any one man’s shoulders. Sure, Hayward was a pretty severe letdown overall. Tatum looked like more or less the same exact player he was in his rookie campaign. Irving was all too often the root of drama and toxic attitudes, which clouded the team’s championship aspirations. Stevens gripped tightly onto five timeouts while opponents ripped off gigantic runs in the third quarter of playoff games.
Rozier went from a lovable, talented, bench player with attitude, to looking like a deer in headlights night in, night out. He didn’t wait long to unload the clip on a nationally televised interview.
The fourth-year player talked about sacrificing the most out of anyone, much in disagreement with the stats.
the great sacrifice 2018-19 pic.twitter.com/qjHotnmu5F
— Chimney Pipe (@LuckysPipe) May 14, 2019
Regardless of the reasoning, not even the much-anticipated playoffs could jump-start the Celtics. And on Wednesday, May 8, any remaining pipe dreams of banner 18 were clogged by Milwaukee.
So speaking for all of Boston, goodbye to this season.
Goodbye to the inconsistency, to the drama, and to the total lack of Celtic basketball. Goodbye to a team that doesn’t know the importance of teamwork, and to a locker room littered with tension.
Adiós, ciao, tot ziens. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
